100 Shades of Gray
by Water Fairy a.k.a. Mizu
Summary: This is a collection of oneshots about the Girls and the Boys using the 100 theme challenge. Length of oneshots will vary. Please read and enjoy!
1. Introduction

**100 Shades of Gray**

By Water Fairy a.k.a. Mizu

Disclaimer: I do not own Powerpuff Girls.

Summary: This is a collection of oneshots about the Girls and the Boys using the 100 theme challenge. Length of oneshots will vary. Please read and enjoy!

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><p><strong>One: Introduction<strong>

"Okay, Boomer. This is Paul," Bubbles said, directing her boyfriend's attention to the mentioned Paul. "Paul, this is Boomer."

Paul merely stared at him. And that stare honestly disturbed the blue ruff. Bubbles stood there, surveying the two before clapping her hands. Reluctantly, Boomer broke eye-contact with Paul and turned to his counterpart. She was beaming brightly at him and it took all he had not to melt at the breathtaking smile of hers.

"Okay. You two play nice," she said, collecting her keys. "I have to get something at the store. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Boomer began to pout. He had only just gotten back from a mission and he really wanted to spend time with Bubbles. Couldn't whatever she needed to get wait? He stared at his girlfriend with his best lost puppy look and he was rewarded with her "awwww" face. Bending down, she planted a kiss on his lips and Boomer literally purred. He reached up to pull her closer, but the nimble puff danced away, breaking the kiss.

"I'll be right back," she said again and disappeared through the door.

Releasing a sigh, Boomer propped his head up and stared forlornly at the door. God, he hadn't seen Bubbles for three long weeks. He had spent the time cooped up in some shabby Turkish apartment with only his brothers for company. And there had been only one bed. The blue ruff shuddered at the memory. He loved his brothers; honestly he did, but being stuck in that small space with them? He had been tempted to strangle himself. He knew that Brick had been tempted. And both of them had been tempted to throttle Butch. He shuddered again, this time in anger. God, Butch had been exceptionally annoying this time around.

A huff broke his concentration and Boomer turned his gaze to the other occupant of the living room. In all honesty, Boomer had forgotten about Paul. He stared at him, taking in his features. Dark eyes, dark hair. Everything about Paul was dark. The ruff frowned, leaning back in his seat. What did Bubbles see in Paul? Boomer couldn't find anything appealing. Paul sneered at him and he frowned.

And they stared at each other.

They stared and stared and stared. Neither broke eye contact and both were soon wearing sneers. Boomer didn't know how long they sat there, glaring at each other, waiting for the other to blink. It had to be an eternity, a lifetime. The blue-eyed man tapped his foot irately, wondering for a moment if this was what Brick went through whenever he and Blossom got into a dominance match. And if it was, then Boomer had no idea how Brick managed it. It was so frustrating! Paul barely blinked and didn't move and he was starting to _growl_.

Boomer gritted his teeth and hissed angrily, "Look away, you stupid-." At that moment the door opened.

"I'm back!" Bubbles said, smiling.

Paul was the one to break eye-contact. He bounded over Bubbles, greeting her warmly. Boomer frowned, standing from his spot on the couch. Stretching, he wondered how he had gotten so stiff. He then realized that it was because he had been so tense throughout his and Paul's staring match. Shaking his head, the Rowdyruff strode over to Bubbles, taking her package from her. He bent down and pressed his lips to hers briefly, before pulling back and staring into her eyes.

"Paul is annoying," he said, trying to keep the irritation from his voice.

Bubbles blinked before laughing. "He's only protective of me, Boomer!"

Rolling his eyes, Boomer looked at the box in his hands. "Is this…a cake?"

"Yup!" she said, smiling widely. "A welcome back cake! And a cake for your first meeting with Paul!"

Boomer paused in his opening of the box. Turning to his bouncy girlfriend, he stared at her. Glancing down, Paul leered at him and growled. Boomer closed his eyes, took a breath, and then opened them.

"Okay. I can understand you getting me a cake to welcome me back," he began slowly, watching Bubbles' face. "But for my introduction to _your dog_?"

Bubbles just smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

X-x-x-x

Woo! Okay. This is a side project to Storm. I just wanted to do this because…I just did. Yeah. But don't expect this to be updated too quickly; my main focus is Storm at the moment.

Anyway! First theme: Introduction. (Also first Blues, hope I did them okay!) :D There were so many ideas for this, but I decided on this one in the end. I like it. XD It's amusing to me. And how many of you thought Paul was a human?

Please read and review!


	2. Love

**100 Shades of Gray**

_Ninety-eight themes to go._

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><p><strong>Two: Love<strong>

The moment Bubbles came into the house singing that she was in love, Buttercup vowed that she would never fall in love.

It was nothing against her sister, but Buttercup just couldn't see herself being in love. Love made you weak and gullible and unfocused. It was something that she never wanted to be. It had been bad enough when she had had a _crush_. She still shuddered when she remembered the time when she had liked Ace. The memory of nearly letting her sisters get killed always resurfaced and a bitter taste would enter her mouth. Letting herself get distracted by Ace had been so stupid. So therefore she decided that love was even stupider and she would never ever catch it.

Of course, love had a way of creeping up on someone.

She wasn't even sure _how_ it happened. All she remembered was one day suddenly realizing she noticed everything that he did. Like how similar they were to each and little quirks, especially the way he held his body when someone was telling him off. He held it the exact same way she did. And there were other things they did in similar ways that had her scowling. But how that led to that infernal feeling blooming in her chest, she just had no idea.

She found it oddly ironic that she should fall for the biggest player in Townsville's history. Anything with a skirt and a pair of breasts was fair game and Buttercup would find herself watching him with her mouth twisted in an angry scowl. Every time he showed up with a new girlfriend, she had to fight the urge to slash his tires or key his truck. It wasn't helpful that both her sisters found it amusing that she got so jealous. It wasn't her fault; that was just how she was! And he certainly didn't help with his big salacious grin and glittering green eyes that so irritated her and yet made her mush on the inside.

So what that she got jealous? He himself got jealous too. She couldn't count the times when he would suddenly appear whenever a guy was stuttering out a date proposition and wrap an arm around her shoulder. It pissed her off that he was so possessive, but then again, she would realize, so was she. And she knew that they got on each other's nerves and totally pissed each other off (him pissing her off, mostly), but there were times when he would do something sweet. Like drop off a messily wrapped gift in pretty green wrapping-paper that had a hastily scribbled note usually insinuating that Boomer had made him do it. She couldn't help but smile when she got that gift that had been a cheesy horror movie and a bag of popcorn and a note saying he'd be there at nine, so kick everyone out.

She had vowed to never fall in love, but sometimes promises had to be broken.

X-x-x

Meh. I don't like how this came out, so hopefully it isn't too bad. This is also really drabble-ish, because it was an interesting theme to incorporate the Greens into.

So there you go, theme two: Love. Please read and review!


	3. Light

**100 Shades of Gray**

_Ninety-seven themes to go._

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><p><strong>Three: Light<strong>

It wasn't a secret that Brick hated Blossom. No, it was pretty much public knowledge that he did. As for why he hated her, however, no one was sure. The obvious reason was because of all the times she had beaten him in battle, had humiliated him. Everyone knew about those endless battles when they were kids. Hell, quite a few of them had been televised and for the longest time to "be a ruff" was synonymous with being a failure. That had died down when the Boys had beaten the Girls for once. (In their glee and excitement, they had left for pizza and soda and had left the Girls groaning in the craters they had been slammed into.) They were all valid reasons, but the reason why Brick hated his counterpart so much was because of what she was to the city and town.

He hated her because she was their light.

He hated the fact that she was revered because she was the hero. He hated the fact that she got rewards for her service and for simply just being her. He hated the fact she was so moral and that everything in her world was black and white. There was no way she could survive with her ideals in the real world. He wanted to be there to watch her struggle, to see her fall and become sullied, to see her no longer the shining beacon that she was to her precious little city. That was what he wanted. Call him sadistic, but his hate was that deep.

She was their angel and he wanted to see her fall from her golden throne. And he wanted to be there when she did to rip those pretty little wings of hers off. He wanted her to be at his mercy, to see her begging and crying for him to help her, to stop, and he wanted to laugh in her face when she did. That was how much he hated her. She was an angel and, as her complete opposite, he was a demon. A chaotic devil bent on the destruction of what she stood for and her herself. Because if he had learned anything in his life, it was that there was no black and white. It was an endless field of varying shades of gray with both of them at either end of the spectrum.

But he found, despite his hatred and his want for her to fall, that he wanted to protect her at the same time. And he hated her even more for that. It was infuriating, the conflicting desires he had for her. He wanted to rip her down and he wanted to cage her up and keep her safe. He wanted to clip her wings and keep them clean. He hated her and admired her. She was brilliant and shining and golden and he hated her for that and admired her for it at the same time. She sat on her throne of justice and moral rightness and he wallowed in the darkness of injustice and moral depravity and learned just how gray the world was.

He hated her because she was the light and admired her for the same reason.

And though he wanted her to fall, he never wanted her to join the darkness. It was one thing he never wished upon her. He wanted her to realize that she couldn't keep her ideals and how stupid they were, but he didn't want her to become overcome by the dark and evil and wretchedness. He wanted her sullied and broken and weak, but not turned into a something like him. Something that lived in the darkness and thrived there, needling its way through it like an eel through water. She was to remain in her light and he…he would stay in his darkness.

There were many theories to why Brick hated Blossom. Maybe it was because she beat him so often. Maybe it was because she had humiliated him. But what no one knew was that he hated her because she was the light and that he could never step into her world.

She was the light and he was the darkness. And that's what he hated and admired about her.

X-x-x

Well that was an interesting excursion into Brick's head. Yeah…for some reason, I haven't been able to write Brick much, so this was good. He's very annoying to write for.

Theme three: Light. Interesting twist in this theme huh? It was more so about Brick's hate and admiration for what Blossom was.

Please read and review!

Hmmm…so far these oneshots haven't been very long have they?


	4. Dark

**100 Shades of Gray**

_Ninety-six themes to go._

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><p><strong>Four: Dark<strong>

When she was little, Bubbles was afraid of the dark.

It wasn't that surprising; after all, many people were afraid of the dark when they were kids. Of course, Bubbles had a really valid reason for being afraid of the dark. Sure, everyone claimed their fear had a valid reason behind it. For children, their fear of the dark was because of monsters. And really, it was very legitimate reason as Bubbles and her sisters had found out that one night when the Boogieman had tried to eclipse the Sun. However, those monsters had never showed their faces after that night for whatever reason, leaving that strong reasoning flimsy again. And though Bubbles' reasoning for being afraid of the dark was the same, her monster was real.

Because when it was dark, it was easy for Him to get to her.

She didn't know how many nights she would wake up gasping, blue eyes wide and darting around the room. She would clutch Octi to her tightly and snuggle into Blossom's or Buttercup's back. Then she would pretend that her sisters were impenetrable shields and hope that Him wouldn't appear. Him had scarred her so much because of his twisted like for messing with her mind. It wasn't her sisters he liked, but her and that honestly scared her. Why her? Was it because she was viewed as the weakest sister? Because she was the most sensitive? Even remembering how many times the demon had used her to get to her sisters made her shiver and hug herself tightly.

However, despite all the bad connotations the dark had had for her, by the time she was ten, Bubbles no longer needed a nightlight. She was very proud at herself for getting over her fear, despite the ever present threat of Him. Nonetheless, she figured that if she could get over her fear of the dark, maybe Him would realize that she wasn't some little lamb he could shepherd around to do what he wanted. And it must have worked because shortly after the Boys left, Him disappeared as well. Bubbles didn't delude herself with thinking that it was because of her refusal to be his toy anymore, but she would sometimes left herself think it was, just a little bit. Especially when she needed a burst of courage.

When she got over her fear, she noticed that there were many things about the dark that were nice. The stars, for one, were pretty despite the light and air pollution from the city. And fireflies were so cute! As were the bats she would occasionally see, despite Blossom's calling them icky. For the first time her short life, Bubbles actually liked being outside at night and not fearing every shadow that moved. She sometimes would even sneak out and fly over to the mountains and find a nice place to sit and just watch the stars. It wasn't a great feat; after all, she knew Buttercup had snuck out a lot to hang with the Gangreen Gang, but to Bubbles it was something special to her.

From her sneaking out to the mountains, Bubbles saw her first meteor shower at the age of thirteen. She loved the way the bright tails cut across the sky, reminding her of the colored streaks that occurred when she and her sisters flew. And it was on this night she took notice of another streak. It definitely wasn't one of the meteors, for it was too straight and far too large to be one. It was also too blue to be one and as Bubbles sat staring up at the colored streak, she found herself hoping that, for some reason, it was Boomer. She laughed at that thought, though her eyes never left the pretty blue streak.

Bubbles soon found herself floating to the window when she couldn't sleep, looking outside in hopes to see that blue streak. She never expected to see it, but she liked staring at the sky nonetheless. And though the night sky was sadly empty of blue streaks, Bubbles still remembered how pretty it looked, a cobalt blue stripe shooting across the sky. She would find herself daydreaming about that stripe, despite knowing who it belonged to and would giggle under her breath. She had always found Boomer cute, after all.

As the years went on (only three years actually), Bubbles pushed the memory of that pretty light to the back of her mind. She had become almost impervious to the threat of darkness, only once in a while awakening from nightmares involving it and Him. And though her nightmares were dark and full of unpleasant memories, the memory of her streak (as she started referring to Boomer's streak after the time she saw it during the meteor shower) would, for some magical reason, help her get back to sleep. They were mortal enemies, but Bubbles liked the thought of Boomer maybe, possibly, probably saving her from Him. It was a nice fantasy and she held onto it, no matter how delusional it was.

Though she held onto that old crush she had for Boomer, Bubbles had had a few boyfriends ("A lot of boyfriends," Buttercup would say with a rather hard eye roll) from eighth to eleventh grade and despite all of them being cute and funny and pretty decent guys, none of them was the one that instantly appeared in her mind whenever she awoke from a nightmare. Instead it was always an old memory of a bug-eyed, stubby armed and legged boy that could have been her twin and been her arch nemesis. And then, after September of junior year, that image became one of a rather handsome blonde teenager that looked like a normal human and could _still_ be her twin.

She was also able to see that blue streak again.

The first time she saw it after the Rowdyruff Boys had returned, she had snuck out for the first time in ages to the park on a whim. She had been idly walking around the little pond in the middle Townsville Park when, for some unknown reason, she had the urge to look up. She did such and saw the colored streak, _her_ colored streak, and felt a weird bubble form in her chest. A huge grin had formed on her face, despite knowing that they were still on enemy terms. She just liked the fact that she could see his streak again. In fact, she hadn't even thought about why he was out at night. For all she could have known, he could have been stealing, but as there were no thefts reported the next day, Bubbles didn't think anything of it. For her, it was just nice seeing that glowing blue light again.

Though Boomer had told her (after they had gotten on speaking terms with each other) that he and his brothers would only be staying until Christmas, the ruffs had stayed far longer than that. And it wasn't until well into senior year, nearly the beginning of the second semester, that Bubbles finally conceded to Boomer's insistent pleas for a date. And it was even longer still until she told him about her fear of the dark. She had sat him down one day after graduation and told him about it. He never laughed, just listened with the utmost attention, dark blue eyes never leaving hers.

When she got to the part about seeing his streak during the meteor shower, Bubbles found herself blushing. She told him, nonetheless, and found that he too was blushing faintly. But he had smiled at her then and had said that he liked the fact that he was her hero in nightmares. She had grinned at him then and had pressed her lips to his, enjoying the sense of freedom she felt from telling him.

When Bubbles was little, she was afraid of the dark because of the fear of what Him might to do her. She never slept without Octi or a nightlight or the hall light on and the door cracked. If she got scared, she would snuggle up to one of her sisters and pray that Him wouldn't appear. When she got older, she overcame this fear, despite her once and awhile nightmares. One night she snuck out and saw a meteor shower. During said shower, she saw a blue streak.

It seemed highly ironic to Bubbles that she would love the dark because of a simple thing of seeing a blue streak of light in the night sky.

X-x-x

Soooooo another theme down. I both love and hate this one. :/ I feel like I just…lost the theme halfway through, but eh, there's some fluffy Blues, so hopefully that'll make up for it. XD Slightly longer than the previous ones, but not by much.

Theme four, Dark. It was supposed to be mostly about Bubbles' fear of the dark and her overcoming it and starting to like the dark because of being able to see Boomer's colored streak, but…I think I embellished it a little too much. XD Hopefully it's okay.

Please read and review!


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